Looking for
a light weight heatsink that's compatible with both AMD and Intel
processor platforms? The Auras LPT-709 heatsink is one such cooler, and it runs fairly quietly too.
The LPT-709 comes with a 92mm PWM fan that scales in speed from
800-2400RPM with compatible motherboards. At its fastest speed the fan is
moderately audible. Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) compatible fans are noted by their 4-pin power connectors,
and what PWM does is enable the BIOS to directly control fan speed so
the PC keeps itself cool under load, yet decreases fan noise when
it isn't.

Auras' LPT-709 heatsink offers a common approach to
cooling, with four heatpipes and smooth aluminum cooling fins. The entire
heatsink, heatpipes, aluminum fins and copper base and all have been chrome
plated. As a means to perhaps reduce noise levels, the fins of the LPT-709 are
bent at slight angles, and the leading and trailing edges given
a staggered profile. Furthermore, the 92mm fan is suspended away from the body of
the heatsink with four rubber vibration absorbing posts. The LPT-709 weighs in
at a light 415 grams, its estimated price is in the region of $40USD.

Auras
Technology Co. Ltd. are a ISO-9000 Taiwanese company which was established in
1998 to make OEM laptop thermal solutions for the major brands. The company
later diversified into desktop CPU heatsinks, and now produces heatsinks in its'
Kunshan factory just outside of Shanghai. Frostytech has recently
tested a few other Auras heatsinks, you can find those reviews here.

The Auras LPT-709 heatsink is equipped with soft
rubber vibration absorbing fan posts, and a 92mm PWM fan that scales from
800-2400RPM. As you can see in the photo below, the cooling fins also have a
bent profile, and staggered edges.

The Auras
LPT-709 heatsink comes with two mounting brackets that allow it to be installed
on Socket 775 Intel and socket 939/940/AM2/AM2+ AMD motherboards with a minimum
of fuss. The brackets screw onto the copper base of the Auras LPT-709 with four
screws, and after that installation is a tool-free affair.

Printed
instructions are provided, but you won't need them. Faced with a pile of
heatsinks lately that use unnecessarily complicated mounting hardware,
Frostytech is really pleased to come across any heatsink that makes use of the
standard AMD/Intel methods of attaching it to the motherboard.

Base Finish and Flatness

Flipping
a heatsink over to inspect the business end is often a simple indicator of
overall cooler quality. More practically speaking, a heatsink is in many ways
only as effective as the contact it makes with the processor - the flatter and
smoother the better. Base finish is one of the criteria that Frostytech measure
in the course of evaluating heatsinks, and it involves two distinct aspects.
Surface Finish is the first; this is calculated with the aid of Surface
Roughness Comparator that has a cross section of common machine surface finishes
and their numerical surface roughness equivalents in microinches. The second is
Surface Flatness. This is tested with an engineers straight edge or proven flat
surface, in two axis.

The base
of the Auras LPT-709 has a machined copper base that has been chrome plated. The
surface roughness is ~8 microinches, which is considered excellent, and is flat
in both axis. There are screw holes around the outside of the base area
to attach the Intel and AMD steel mounting brackets.

FrostyTech's Test Methodologies are outlined in detail here if you care to know what equipment is
used, and the parameters under which the tests are conducted. Now let's move
forward and take a closer look at this heatsink, its acoustic characteristics,
and of course its performance in the thermal tests!